


Second Chance at Forever

by kaynibbler16



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 01:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3272450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaynibbler16/pseuds/kaynibbler16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes love needs a second chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chance at Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.

She spotted him across the room, chatting up some investor. Some things never changed. His hair was surprisingly tidy that night, except for the stray lock hanging just above his right eyebrow. The casual elegance he exuded was something she had once enjoyed immensely on nights like this. Now, though, it only served to irritate her further.

Grabbing another champagne flute from a passing waiter, Rose downed a good portion of the bubbly drink as she wound her way through the crowded ballroom. She should have never agreed to come that night, but Jack could be incredibly persuasive sometimes. Of course tonight was the night he decided to take Ianto on a romantic trip to his cottage estate and left her alone to schmooze with possible investors.

And he was there that night, too.

Bloody John Noble.

She wasn’t at all surprised considering John was more concerned with his company than anything else in his life. That was something Rose had learned the hard way. To John, the company always came first no matter what.

Even if it meant destroying his own romantic relationships in the process.

Leave it to her to find the one man who could make her feel like the center of his universe only to ditch her a year later. He never told her why he suddenly decided they weren’t any good together, but it didn’t matter now. They were done and over with and she had moved on.

At least, that’s what she told herself every night as she lay awake alone in her bed.

It really wasn’t fair that he could make her blood burn with desire and yet feel no remorse about leaving her behind. Stupid bastard.

“Rose Tyler, you look ravishing tonight,” a voice practically purred from behind her.

Oh no, not him.

She turned and greeted the man. “Hello, Adam.”

“What, no kiss?”

Rose almost snorted with disgust. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Well, I thought a gorgeous woman like you could use the company of a fine gentleman this evening,” he said, eyes straying southwards in a very ungentlemanly manner.

“Gentleman? I certainly hope you weren’t talking about yourself there, Mitchell,” a voice chided, the familiar Scottish lilt making Rose’s spine tingle pleasantly.

She refused to turn around despite being able to fell the heat radiating from the body behind her.

Adam sneered at the newcomer. “I’m surprised to see you here, John. Thought you’d be holed up in your office counting your earnings.”

“And miss tonight? Not likely.”

“Probably just here to con some poor fool into investing in that pathetic excuse of a company you own. I’m sure Rose would rather be with a man who could give her the night of her dreams,” Adam goaded confidently.

That was the last straw for her. “And that man is not you, Adam. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

She strode away from the last two men she wanted to spend the evening with and out onto a terrace overlooking a massive garden. It wasn’t until she was in the open air that she let the tension coiling inside her stomach release.

Why did John have to do that?

She could have handled Adam all on her own. What was John playing at?

“Sneaking off in the middle of a party is considered poor etiquette, you know?”

Rose scowled. Of course he had followed her. “What do you want, John?”

“Who says I want anything? Maybe it’s just stuffy in there.”

“Oh please. You would never miss an opportunity to increase your company’s standing unless it was something incredibly dire. Now, what do you want?” Rose moved over to a ledge and leaned against the cold stone, eyes trained on the tall figure of her ex-lover.

He grimaced and took a few steps towards her. “My company isn’t everything to me, Rose.”

Rose snorted. “Could have fooled me.”

His pressed his lips into a thin line and looked away from her, tucking his hands in his pockets. “I made mistakes, Rose.”

For a moment, Rose thought she had misheard him. “I’m sorry?”

He sighed and walked over to the stone ledge beside Rose. “I messed up. Got caught up in my work and, well, it destroyed one of the greatest things that had ever happened to me.”

It took Rose a few seconds to remember how to breathe. “And what was that?”

His eyes were dark, but the smoldering desire in them made her toes curl inside her expensive pumps. “I destroyed us. I’m so sorry, Rose.”

“Why?”

“What?” he asked, confused by the strange question.

She looked away from him. “Why? You haven’t contacted me in over a year, John. Why now?”

He murmured something under his breath and she wasn’t sure heard him correctly. “What was that?”

“I said,” he swallowed and the action drew her gaze towards his neck, making her breath hitch ever so slightly, “because I am a coward.”

She stared at him questioningly.

“You, Rose…you terrify me.”

“What?” she asked and he must have caught the hurt in her tone, because he quickly elaborated.

“What I mean is, what we had was something I have never experienced before and it was just so…intense.” He scratched the back of his neck, cheeks reddening in the light of party several steps away. “And it scared me. So much so that I hid in my work.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

He shrugged, eyes not meeting hers. “Coward, remember?”

They sat in silence after his confession, Rose processing what he had just told her. “So this whole time, you’ve been…”

“Lamenting the fact that I walked away from the greatest person I’ve ever met.”

“Ah.”

“And, I should have told you from the beginning. I shouldn’t have…Rose, I’m sorry that hurt you. I never meant for…oh, Rose, I’m so sorry.”

In that moment, Rose saw the shrewd businessman exterior melt away to reveal the man she had first fallen in love with. “John, you hurt me when you left. I won’t pretend you didn’t.”

His entire posture sagged and he turned away.

“But, that doesn’t mean that what we had—have is gone.”

“Yeah?” he asked, hopeful.

She smiled. “Yeah.”

“So, does this mean you want to try again?”

Taking a deep breath, she slipped her hand into his and squeezed his cool fingers. “I think we still have some things to work out before we get ahead of ourselves.”

“Oh.”

“But, I’d like to try again.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

His smile was contagious and she was soon grinning along with him. He laced their fingers together and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “I can’t promise I won’t slip up every once in a while, but I will never run away from what we have again.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“So, what do you say we go find somewhere with better company and better food?”

“It’s your turn to buy.”

He laughed. “Well, at least this time I remembered my wallet. Chips, then?”

“Am I that predictable?”

“Can’t have a first date without chips, right?”

“Right!”

They laughed as they made their way to the exit and John might have accidentally bumped into Adam, spilling his champagne all over him. And they may have run off amidst the angry shouts of the other businessman, ignoring that perturbed stares of the other partygoers.

They didn’t have time to stick around and chat; they had a new future to plan together because sometimes love deserved a second chance.


End file.
